“Teach me,” Gabriel said seriously.
“Ahh, grasshopper, the student becomes the master.”
Ignoring her flippantness, Gabriel said, “How did you do it?”
“Do what?” Taylor said.
“The birds….the ground strike….the cube of light around your body? I didn’t teach you any of that. Hell, I don’t think I could’ve done any of those things, or have even thought of doing them.”
“What cube?” Taylor asked.
“Stop messing around, Tay. Remember the gaggle of orbs headed for your head while you were flying?”
“I’m not messing around, Gabriel. And, yes, I remember the gaggle, but then I closed my eyes, so I’m a bit hazy on what happened after that.”
“You closed your eyes?” Gabriel asked, the corners of his lips curling up ever so slightly.
“Look, it’s like this. When I don’t know what to do, I just stop trying to think and let my body do the work. It’s like I’m a squirrel or something, and I just know that I have to gather and store acorns in my tree for the winter.”
“You store acorns?” Gabriel joked, looking around the room as if he expected to see hordes of tree fruit piled up around them.
“Ha ha. It’s called a simile.”
“Okay, so you’re saying you let your instincts take over.”
“Duh.”
“Alright, fine. So let me tell you what I saw you do then. You were high in the air, hovering in the corner of the stadium, a gaggle of orbs heading your way, ducking and diving and twisting. You were dead in the water, dead meat, dead girl walking, deader than dead—”
Taylor cut him off: “I get it. I was dead.”
“Sorry, I guess I got carried away. Anyway, you were practically road kill…,” Gabriel said.
Despite her efforts to look tough, a smile escaped Taylor’s closed lips. Gabriel laughed, too. “As long as I can always make you laugh,” he mused.
Taylor hugged him. “As long as I can always make you cry,” she joked back. Releasing him, she said, “What happened next?”
“So the ducking-diving-twisting light-rockets were about to blast you out of the air, when a cube of light forms around you, as if you had been trapped inside a block of frozen lemonade.”
“I was stuck in lemonade?” she asked, sniffing her arms as if she expected the fresh scent of lemon juice to waft from her skin.
“Touché,” Gabriel said. “That was a simile, too.”
“Oh,” Taylor said, pretending to be confused.
Ignoring her act, Gabriel said, “Although you were surrounded by light, it didn’t look like a spotlight or anything, it was much more tangible than that, like it had substance…Like it was hard, a barrier.”
“Like a wall.”
“Exactly. When the orbs hit the pillar of light, they bounced off like it was made of rubber. Did you see what they did after that?”
“Yeah, they hit the same angels who originally shot them at me.”
“Right, plus a couple extra.”
Taylor didn’t get it. So what? Evidently it had been a nice trick, but why was Gabriel so focused on it? She had seen him do amazing things, too. They were angels after all—inherently amazing, if only for the fact that they existed. “What am I missing?” she said, almost to herself.
“What do you mean?” Gabriel asked.
“I mean, why are you making such a big deal out of what I did? A pillar of light, wow. I’m sure you’ve used that trick many times before while in a real battle.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Taylor, did you think you were carried around the field just because you made it through an extremely difficult training course?”
Not wanting to sound stupid, but having only one answer to the question, Taylor said, “Uh, yeah.”
“No, Taylor. No, no, no. They cheered because no one has ever seen anyone—angel, demon, human, gargoyle—do what you did. I might be able to pull off the pillar of light one time, but I would be so weakened from the effort that I would be killed soon after. And the swords-in-the-ground trick? No way I could pull that off, pushing the light energy through the ground the way you did, and then morphing it into hands. Don’t get me started on the flock of birds. I’ve never—never—seen anyone handle light with such ease, with such grace. It was poetry, Tay. That’s why they cheered you. In you they found hope.”
Gabriel’s monologue stunned Taylor into silence for a moment. The gravity of his words lay heavy in the air, pressing down on her shoulders, and although her usual response to such a moment was to make a sarcastic comment, the mere thought felt wrong, sacrilegious. They sat unspeaking for a time, until Gabriel said, “You okay, Taylor?”
Taylor looked at him for a long second before saying, “I’m fine. Do you think I am what they say I am? That I have the potential to change things?”
Looking deep into her eyes, Gabriel’s face looked more certain, more full of truth than Taylor had ever seen before. He said simply, “Yes. I do.”
Something her mother once told her popped into her mind: Taylor, the only support you need is your own. If you believe in yourself, that is enough. But if you can turn that self-support into the support of another, and then another, until you have hundreds of hearts behind you, the effect will be magnified, and the sum total of that support will be unstoppable, immovable.
Taylor said, “Thanks, I’ll do my best.”
Gabriel put a hand behind her head, her neck, and pulled her in close. He kissed her deeply, lingering on the edge of her lips. They kissed again.
Tonight they wanted love; the pain would come later.
Chapter Twenty-One
The demon spy had checked in. The girl would be training the next night again. Except this time they would be there. He could almost feel her neck between his hands, bones cracking, muscles withering, life ending.
David hated her. She was the great corrupter. If not for her, he would be standing side by side with his brother, fighting for the cause. Instead, he would have to kill Gabriel too. He deserved nothing less.
He wondered if Gabriel, his own brother, would recognize him now. He hoped he would. That he would see how strong he had become without him. That he was better off on his own. That Gabriel was no longer his idol. Then he would tell him how badly he had hurt him. How he might not have become who he had become if not for his relentless anger towards Gabriel. He hoped Gabriel would see that he was partly to blame. After breaking his mind, he would kill him.
Given her seniority, Johanna would lead the mission, but David knew he had become the true second-in-command over the New Archangels, the one everyone feared. Even before he had defeated her in a test of strength and skill, Johanna had feared him. And while Lucas still tried to treat him like his apprentice—like a child—David knew that he feared him, too. That was good—to be feared. It was a form of respect, something that Dionysus had taught him. And now Dionysus feared him, too, but not as much as the others. No, he was too arrogant for that. Which is why David still respected him, and would serve him.
David cracked his knuckles and smiled. Tomorrow would be a good day. At long last, his growing lust for blood would be fulfilled.
Chapter Twenty-Two
They slept in the next morning. Samantha had stayed at Chris’s so they were alone. Sleeping in didn’t always involve sleeping, but did mean that they stayed in bed. Sometimes kissing, sometimes doing more, they spoke little.
Eventually, they arose and had a late breakfast—a brunch—at one of their favorite on-campus spots. The food was good, the atmosphere was light, and the excitement level was high. Taylor didn’t know why she should feel excited. The end of training meant going on her mission. The mission might mean death, or worse. Yet she was excited.
Gabriel seemed to sense it, and spurred her forward, his words upbeat and positive. At this time more than ever, she was glad he was her boyfriend. He knew what it was like to embark on a first mission, although his had been of a somewhat different natu
re—to destroy the world, rather than save it—but the feelings were similar: a twinge of fear, a burst of excitement, a dash of optimism, a slice of pessimism.
“Back when I was your age…,” Gabriel joked.
“You are my age,” Taylor commented.
“Good point. I have no advice for you.”
“Come on, there must be something you can say.”
“Not really. Just to…..trust your instincts. As you proved yesterday, they are your greatest weapon.”
“And you’ll be there to watch my back, right?” Taylor asked.
“No.”
“No?” Taylor repeated, still assuming he was joking.
“I’m sorry, Taylor. I have a different mission.”
“But I thought—” Taylor started.
“It was never the plan,” Gabriel said.
“But Clifford implied you would be going when he said I would have a team of the best angels and demons,” Taylor pointed out.
“He never said I would be going, but you’ll probably get Chris, Sampson, and Kiren. There’s a second mission. One that I will lead. Clifford thinks it’s my destiny, although I’m not sure I believe all that legend stuff.”
Taylor said, “He thinks you will lead a great angel rebellion against the Archangel Council. He thinks you’re the chosen one.”
“Clifford thinks a lot of things. All I know is that he wants me to travel the world, trying to convert angels to our cause. I don’t know about legends and myths and stories, but I do know that it is a good plan. We can use all the help we can get and if I can turn Dionysus’s own people against him, he won’t stand a chance.”
“It is a good plan. I understand. Be careful, I’m not gonna be around to save your butt next time you get stabbed.”
“I might not last a day without you,” Gabriel joked.
“Probably not,” Taylor said.
From the diner, they spent time walking around campus, eating ice cream cones, talking about anything but wars and missions and rebellions. It was nice for a change. To act normal. To do human things. Taylor was surprised at how much she missed it. She had a sudden urge to see her dad, and even her brother, in a weird, from-across-the-room sort of way. Just to know they were alive and well. She considered calling them just to say hello, to hear their voices, but decided against it—she worried that by speaking to her family she might lose her nerve.
And then the day was gone, having melted away like butter in a frying pan. They returned to Taylor’s room, where Chris would meet them to secretly transport them to the stadium via teleportation, or porting as Taylor like to call it.
When they walked in, Samantha and Chris were already waiting. “Hey, Tay!” Sam said. “Ready for tonight?” Her friend’s enthusiasm was almost oozing from her.
“I was born ready,” Taylor said. Backtracking, she said, “No, not really. I had a good day full of normal human stuff.”
Sam laughed. “Yeah, we’re a boring species, but our simple lives can be quite enjoyable sometimes.”
Her best friend fit in so well with the demons that Taylor sometimes forgot she was still human. “I’m sorry, Sam, I didn’t mean to say—”
Sam cut her off: “I was just kidding, Taylor. I am as happy as ever to be a lowly human—there’s less pressure. I get to focus on being a college kid while you’re out saving the world. The only hard thing is that I am left worrying about you guys when you run off with your swords and guns and such.”
“We’ll be fine, Sam. At least I am capable of defending myself now that I am trained.”
Chris said, “I can vouch for that. I’m still sore from the orbs you knocked Kiren and me senseless with.”
Taylor grinned. “You asked for it when you snuck up on me.”
“True,” Chris said. “Should we get going? We need to be on time tonight.”
“Let’s do it,” Taylor said.
They formed a chain by holding hands and then Chris flipped-spun-ported them to the stadium. A handful of angels and demons were already there, including Sampson and Kiren, who ran up to greet them.
Sampson said, “Time to get back on the horse. I haven’t seen any real action for a long time.”
“You needed some rest after the last time you saw action,” Gabriel noted.
“Well, I am certainly well rested now. I can’t wait to work with your super-angel girlfriend on the next mission,” Sampson said, motioning towards Taylor. “You have got to teach me how to do that bird thing.”
“Already tried that,” Gabriel said. “She claims it was all instincts, but I think she might just be holding out on us.”
Taylor was aware that her friends were laughing, but she was too focused on something else. She was about to start a mission and would have Chris, Sampson, and Kiren with her, which should be comforting, but it wasn’t. Instead, all she could think about was that Gabriel would have none of them. It didn’t feel right. They should both be amongst friends, especially when they were in dangerous situations. It was at those times that you needed people who loved you, people you could trust.
“What’s eating you, Tay?” Sam said.
Taylor realized it was the second time her friend had asked the question. “Oh, umm, nothing. Just thinking about the mission.”
“Don’t worry, Tay. I know it will be fine. You’ve come through so many times before, you’ll do it again.”
“Thanks, Sam.”
“Sure.”
Gabriel said, “Let’s get started.”
The two demons, human, and angel went to sit on the bleachers to watch, while Gabriel and Taylor headed for the twenty yard line, where she would start her drills. She had told Gabriel that she wanted it to be like any other day of training, nothing special.
And for the most part, it was. Gabriel started by stretching her out. From there, she practiced some complex aerial maneuvers and then it was on to sword work. She battled Gabriel, who managed to disarm her the first two times, before Taylor won five in a row. Two hours had passed in a hurry, and at the end, Gabriel said, “There’s nothing more I can teach you.”
“Thank you, grasshopper,” Taylor joked, “but I was really hoping to learn how to catch a fly with chopsticks.”
Gabriel laughed and hugged her. “I’m not sure the world’s ready for an angel like you,” he said.
Waiting for Clifford to arrive, they sat in the bleachers with their friends, laughing and joking. Around eight-thirty, the head of the demon Elders arrived alone, appearing out of nothing in one of the end zones. Despite the fact that he could have teleported over to them, Clifford walked slowly to the bleachers; he looked older—and wiser—than usual.
Upon reaching them, he hopped over the small wall and railing with an ease that was elf-like, youthful, like he had just then cast off thirty years from his age. Smiling, he sat next to Sam, who had Chris on her other side. Taylor was next and then Gabriel, with Sampson and Kiren sitting in front of them, down a row.
“Hi, Cliff,” Sam said.
“Ahh, my dear, how nice to see you again,” Clifford replied.
“You, too. So which mission am I going to lead?” she joked.
Clifford laughed, a hearty ho, ho, ho, that reminded Taylor of gifts and colorful lights and North Poles.
Clifford said, “My dear, your mission is to keep me company. Whenever you’re not in class, that is.”
Putting an arm around Clifford, Sam said, “Well it just so happens that tomorrow is the start of spring break, so I’ve got the whole week to keep you company.”
Clifford’s eyes lit up at the information. “That is great news. I was worried about Taylor falling behind in her studies.”
Taylor frowned. “Really? The world is on the verge of destruction and you’re worried about my grades? You sound like my dad.”
Clifford said, “When all this is over I want you to have a chance at a normal life, or at least semi-normal, if that’s what you want, Taylor. College will help give you that chance.”
&
nbsp; Taylor laughed. “Semi-normal—that’s a good way of putting it. And thanks, but don’t worry about my studies, I can always catch up later.”
Clifford nodded. “I have just finished meeting with the Eldership. We have finalized some of the details for the missions,” Clifford started, emphasizing the s at the end of missions and watching Taylor’s face carefully.
Taylor said, “I know about the second mission—Gabriel’s mission. You don’t have to worry, I understand how important it is and won’t try to change your mind.”
Clifford nodded again. “I wish it didn’t have to be that way, but thank you for your support. The first mission will be Gabriel’s and he will go with only a demon escort. This will allow him to get around fast and travel light. He needs to cover as much ground as possible in a short time.”
Taylor’s thoughts from earlier wormed their way through her mind, into her throat, and out her mouth: “I want Sampson to go with him.”
Alarm on his face, Gabriel said, “No, Tay. You need all the firepower you can get. My mission is much less dangerous. I’m just going to talk to people.”
“Yeah, talking to people about changing everything about the way they think. It is not going to be an easy message. Some will be angry. There could be violence.”
“Then I’ll handle it,” Gabriel said firmly.
“I am not questioning how capable you are. But there are many benefits to bringing Sampson with you. For one, two witnesses to the evil that resides within the Archangel Council will be much more powerful than one. And secondly, if something does happen, you’ll have someone to watch your back.”
Still shaking his head, Gabriel looked to Clifford for help.
He didn’t get it. Clifford stroked his short, dark beard thoughtfully. “The girl has made a good argument. Request granted. Sampson will accompany Gabriel on his mission.”
“Thank you,” Taylor said. She looked at Gabriel. “You’ll thank me later.”
Gabriel frowned, but didn’t argue further.